My YTT Story - Courtney

Before I found myself signing up for my teacher training, I was repeating over and over how I did not want to teach yoga, only practice. Despite saying that, I sought out a teacher training and signed up. Looking back, I am not even sure when or how I changed my mind. 

When I entered into teacher training, I was unsure of myself or what the experience would be like. During my YTT,  I was challenged in ways I didn’t expect to be, leading me to becoming a person I didn’t expect that I could become. Yes, I learned about the body and I learned about the postures but I also learned yoga philosophy, which guided me to follow my bliss and to learn what I needed to, whatever that was, to find myself again. By graduation, I uncovered my "self" - the part of me that I had buried down deep inside while I was busy being the person I thought everyone else wanted me to be.

My yoga teacher training set a fire inside of me.

My YTT ignited a passion that I believed in, and starting me down MY path: The path that led to me teaching yoga to all ages (kids, teens, and adults) and learning to teach aerial yoga. The path that allowed me to develop and implement my own mindfulness in education program, teaching children and teachers how to practice mindfulness and yoga in the classroom. The path that gave me the confidence to assist with helping other teachers learn how to trust themselves to teach yoga. The path that most recently pushed me to “take the leap” into starting a business that combines my passions: yoga, mindfulness, and mental health. The path that eventually led to you reading this very newsletter!

Without my teacher training, would I have ended up on this path? Sure, anything is possible. But if I had listened to the “not good enough to teach” voice inside my head that said not to do a YTT because “I was a better student” or because “I don’t have anything to share,” I truly believe that I would still be living my life as the person that I thought everyone else wanted me to be, not the person I knew I was meant to become. 

My story about yoga teacher training is not unique. I hear from yoga teachers very frequently about how life-changing their teacher training was for them, and I believe if you enrolled, it would be for you, too. 

in our next blog post, read BJ's take on his yoga teacher training experience.